The Patronus (Short Story)
by TylerCourts
Summary: This is a short One-Shot taking place somewhere between the events of Order of The Phoniex and The Half Blood Prince. It shows a different way that Harry and Ginny could have discovered that they love each other.


Ginny awoke that morning, knowing that today was different. Today was the day that she was going to tell Harry Potter of the feeling's she had had for him for about a month now. There was only one problem; she didn't know how she was going to tell him. She had never told a boy that she had feelings for him before. They had always been the one to tell her, and she just happened to feel the same way. But with Harry, it was different. Ginny had had a childhood crush on him since she first met him when he arrived at the Burrow for the first time. But now it was a full out, teenage crush. She was hoping that something, some kind of magic would come her way to help her tell him. Sure enough, it did.

It was the first D.A. meeting of the week, where they were going to be practicing the extremely challenging, yet quite useful Patronus charm. However, Ginny didn't know just how useful this charm would be to her.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Harry began, "As I said in Friday's meeting; today we will begin to learn how to cast the Patronus charm. This is a charm that I don't expect many of you to get right off, but after a little practice, you guys should be able to at least protect yourself from a rather small group of Demontors. However, I expect some of you will be rather skilled with this charm, having watched your performance with the Protego Maximus charm in last week's meeting."

Ginny could hardly stand still; she knew that this was going to be the time when she told Harry about her feeling. _But how, _she thought, _I can't just get up in front of the group and announce it._ Harry had them all line up, each attempting to cast their first Patronus charm. Herminoe went first, having witnessed Harry cast the spell himself only two years ago against a larger amount of demontors than any of the other students could ever face. Hermione, of course, did the charm without any problems, casting a small otter in the midair as it encircled her head. Neville was next, having some trouble his first time with the charm, then successfully conjuring a surprisingly large beaver. Some of the students chuckled, as well as others were astonished that he could cast one at all.

A few other students went, and then it was Ginny's turn. She was so nervous that she was having trouble holding on to her wand her palms were so sweaty. "E-expecto Patronm" she muttered. A flash of blue light flashed out of the end of her wand, dying out almost instantly. "Expecto Patronm" she repeated, a little bit more firmly this time. This time a horse appeared out of the end of her wand, in the standard shade of blue a patronus is cast in. But her patronus was different. It began to glow brighter after a few seconds. Harry, not knowing what to expect, instructed everyone to step back. He drew his wand, ready to defend the class from anything that came there way. Ginny's patronus did something that everyone took by surprise; it changed form. Everyone stopped when they saw what it had transformed into. Some dropped their wands in amazement; others smirked, not realizing what it was at first. Hermione, being the only one that Ginny had told about her crush on Harry, just stood there, beaming at the sight of a giant Doe, looking down on the class.

Ginny smiled, in amazement that she was able to cast the charm with such astonishing power. But then she froze, realizing what the patronus had taken form of. This was the same form that Harry's mother, Lily's patronus was. Ginny dropped her wand in embarrassment, as she tried to run out of the room, her vision blurred and she blacked out. Thankfully, none other than Harry himself was there to catch her, rushing her up to the Hospital Wing before she had even hit the ground.

About five hours later, Ginny finally awoke. Harry, as well as the rest of Dumbldore's Army, stood at her bedside. "W—what happened?" she said, alarmed by the concerned looks on everyone's faces. The whole D.A. then turned to their fearless leader, Harry Potter, to give her an explanation. "You fainted after casting your Patronus charm." He said. Harry couldn't help but smile, realizing that the girl he had loved for the past 6 months, loved him back. Hermione put her hand on Harry's shoulder, then turning to the rest of the D.A, "let's give her a minute to realize what's happened. Harry, you should stay with her, and explain it a little bit more." She winked. Harry gave a little nod, smiling at Hermione as she and the rest of the D.A. walked out of the room.

Harry walked over to the door and made sure that everyone was gone, including any staff members that might have stopped by to check on her. Ginny had a blank look on her face, still trying to take in what had just happened. "I'm not the only one that saw that, am I Harry?" she said, looking up at him. Harry shook it head, "No, no we all saw your patronus take the form of a Doe, just like that," He said smiling, ", and I assume that that was no coincidence, either, right?" Ginny looked down, afraid that he might get mad at her if she told him her feeling for him, in spite of what just happened. _I might as well tell him now,_ she thought,_ I mean, he pretty much already knows._

"Harry, I need to tell you something," she began, "For the past couple months, I have had feelings for you, I just didn't know how to tell you. I mean you're the bloody Chosen One, I don't know why I thought you would have time for a love life. Or why you would have feeling for an immature fourth year witch like me." She rambled on for another few minutes before Harry did the last thing that she would have expected; he kissed her. The kiss was more than a Please-Just-Shut-Up kind of kiss; it was the I-Know-You-Love-Me-And-I-Feel-The-Same-Way-About-You kind of kiss.

Harry looked up at her, after their long awaited first kiss, and said only two words with the biggest grin on his face, "I know."


End file.
